Where Do I Start

Why is there no recommended reading for Veeky Forums, or is that all covered by Veeky Forums's wiki page?

Start by reading the Bible, followed by Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin

Are you trying to shill Christianity, or are you being serious?

what do you desire

How are you supposed to understand european history without being educated in christianity?

Start with the Cro Mags.

It's not quite the place to start though, is it? You can't understand European history without being more than somewhat familiar with paganism.

European history was not influenced by paganism nearly as much as christianity or greco-roman culture
Those are the 2 must-knows, everything else is just helpful but not necessary

He's a christian and he's trying to convert you.

This is going to be difficult...

If Christianity is the monolithic institution you're pretending, then why is it practiced so differently within Europe? Because Christianity was molded to fit the pre-existing cultures. You can see a form of this in modern day Peru - ask an Inca descendant, "who's that saint in this religious mural?", they'll give you two names: his Christian name and the name of the Inca god he supposedly replaced.

All that's an aside though, really. If Veeky Forums were to create a reading list it would have to start with literature which dealt with life BC. Deal with it, Christfag.

Thought so.

except Christianity stole a ton of shit from pagan religions.

Eastern europe's a shithole

Important europe (aka west) was influenced almost solely by christianity and greco-roman culture, with slight germanic/celtic influences
There is no reason to prioritise learning about other things than these if your interest is western europe

define "stole"

>Eastern europe's a shithole

You're odd...

>There is no reason to prioritise learning about other things than these if your interest is western europe

OP didn't say, "limit the reading list to western Europe" - and, even if he did, you'd still have to include the Gauls, Celts, Norse, etc.

>define "stole"

Oh look, Christfag is trying to turn this into a debate about cultural appropriation because his original point fell so flat.

>define stole

Let's see, what was the most recent holiday.. valentines day, originally lupercalia, a Roman holiday with greek origins.

>nordic influence on western europe
wut

roman and greek, the cultures that had the most influence on the west second to christianity
if you'd read the post you'd know that was already a given
Also citing valentines day as an example for this is a rather weak example, a more pertinent one would be architectural or linguistic

OP here,
I'm reading so many conflicting answers.
I don't even know where I want to start. What is the most important thing to know about history, I guess, and how do I begin to learn about it - is the answer still reading the Bible?

I'm basically a noob, and I'm of very average intelligence - if that helps. But I also want to become more knowledgeable, and understand the world as it is.
Just very overwhelming with what there is to learn. I read these threads posted on here... and I have little to no idea what everyone is talking about.

You haven't helped us at all. If you're serious, what are you interested in? Start there. We can't tell you where to start because we don't know what you're interested in. "History" doesn't help because that's every recorded moment in existence. This isn't Veeky Forums where there are absolute classics to recommend.

I'm interested in Modern History, mostly the communist war, and why it began in the first place. I want to learn about communism, in saying that, and why it affected Western civilization so much. I learned about it briefly, back when I was in Year 10, but I want to have a more indepth understanding as well.

I'm also interested about learning about the Romans, and what they did for the world. How they came to be, how they fell - and how that had an impact.

I assume you mean the cold war. I've heard "The Cold War" by Gaddis is a good introduction.

>modern history
That's a nearly 300-year scope lad.

>the communist war
Which communist war. There were several. If you mean the Cold War in general, Gaddis' book is supposedly the best overall book out there. I've never read it. There's also Iron Curtain by Applebaum for non-Soviet, but soviet sphered communist states in Europe. I read that one for a course in high school, it's pretty decent.

I, personally, found the life of Peter the Great fascinating; read up on him. From there you might want to learn about the events of the time period or persons. Also maybe Fredrick the Great.

>in high school
uni*. On that note, I'm going to bed. Best of luck in your search.

Another thread needs your help!

read 'black shirts and reds'

you don't need to read any books i highly recommend just watching crash course world history by john green to get a good rundown.

>no nordic influence on western europe

wut

how

Recommended basic reading on Nazism

>The Richard Evans Third Reich Trilogy (absolute best beginner books)
>Everything by Ian Kershaw, start with his Hitler bio
>The Wages of Destruction (good book on Nazi economics)
>KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps
>Mein Kampf (from a purely historical interest)

There are surprisingly few good books on the Holocaust itself. KL and the TRT touch on the subject a bit, but don't go very deep. There is The Destruction of the European Jews, but a lot of it is bashing Christianity and crying woe is me, though a lot of it is good too.

The problem with Holocaust books is not that there are very few good ones, it is that the subject is so overstudied and over-published on that there is too much crap to dig through to really find the good books. Not to mention that there is a lot of Holocaust mythology that is so touchy to discuss that it becomes hard to really dig through that as well. Of all the books I read on the Holocaust, which have been quite a few, I only really liked the fictional ones (Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is very good, for example).

Are you joking?... Leaving aside that by some measures Scandinavia is, in fact, part of western Europe, haven't you heard of the Vikings? Are you not aware of British history in the slightest?

But, I mean, you're joking right?

Read Primo Levi if you haven't. Some of his chapters If This Is A Man read like an anthropological study.

Jesus Christ this post

>if I respond with questions and allude to obvious unrelated events surely I'm answering the question
this is you

Can you name me 1 (one) important cultural impact the vikings have left on western on society and explain why it isn't totally eclipsed by christianity or the greeks and romans in comparison

also
>scandinavia is part of western europe
who believes this

I like Viktor Frankl as well. Not properly a historical book, but his approach to his own camp experience is very sobering.

Speaking to Holocaust survivors, while understanding that their memory may be somewhat clouded by trauma, old age, and powerful emotions, is also a really good way to learn about the Holocaust. That is how I received much of my education on the subject, growing up in a Jewish community there was no shortage of Holocaust survivors willing to tell their stories.

Actually going to Poland is another effective way of educating oneself on the subject. March of the Living is a wonderful experience for those who can afford it.

Saul Friedlander's "Nazi Germany and the Jews" and "The Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the Jews 1939-1945" are both very good books on the subject.

Start with the Greeks

Alright OP if you're still reading this, let me give you some advice.

All of us here started with something we loved or were already interested in, after researching and reading about it, we moved on to something else that interested us that we read

EX: A beginner interested in Nazi Military History may move on to the First World War, then the German Empire, etc...

What are you most interested in, time period? Country? etc.. We can recommend you something to start on based on what you want to learn about, history is specialized, you get experts in certain fields, the age of the encyclopedia prof is nearly over except for the old guard.

he's right. embrace the christ shill

You should really just find an era or person that interests you expand out from there. Everything is connected in some way so as learn about one era/person you will start to learn about how they came to be and how they influenced what came after them, and so on and so on.

sorry op, most people on Veeky Forums have only skimmed wikipedia articles and watched youtubes

>he wasn't reading random encylopedias as a kid

This is what happens when your country wasn't build on Nationalism and the prussian model.

theres a book about Peter the great called Peter The Great, check it out. the author also wrong one about Catherin the great called Portrait of a woman, so you know which Peter the great book im talking about

Why is it a weak example? It's taking a pagan ritual..

Yeah I'm still reading.
And that sounds like a good plan. Although, I must ask, how do you know if the source you are reading is good or not? Of course I understand that all pieces about history will be somewhat biased, that doesn't mean I want to read propaganda, if that makes sense. What questions should I be focusing on when I am trying to evaluate the credibility of a source?

Well yea I did, but just so I could see drawings of vaginas.

Everything I know about history I read on Wikipedia. I only like Roman and Germanic history also Catholic and Byzantium history. Also like learning about the European ethnicity that came to define a region outside of Europe.

I'm American so US history is boring to me besides when we were "bad guys" WW1&2 are boring to me too.

>Also like learning about the European ethnicity that came to define a region outside of Europe. I'm American

Sure you are, nobody but americans is obsessed with ethnicity.

It's hard to feel you're a stranger with 40% of the population of your own country. Give them a break

>nobody but americans is obsessed with ethnicity
>what are Australians
>what are Koreans
>what are Jews
>what are Britons
>what are Japs